"You're sure you don't know them?"
Lydia shook her head. Laurel's father, Detective Quentin Lance, a middle aged man who seemed to perpetually have a frown on his face, had been called to question Lydia and Laurel about their kidnapping attempt. Lydia could tell he wasn't a man who smiled much, and she couldn't imagine him being very forgiving to any kind of lawbreaker. But so far he had been polite enough, if a little rough around the edges.
"No. They were wearing masks, we couldn't make anything out."
"Okay." Detective Lance said, turning towards his daughter.
"Is there any case you've been working on that pissed someone off?"
"Actually, I think they were after me." Lydia spoke up.
"They kept asking me about Robert Queen, about whether he made it to the island."
"I see. Any idea why?"
"No. I never met Mr. Queen, and I have no idea what these men wanted to know."
Detective Lance frowned, but he seemed to believe her.
"Well, we've got the guys in custody. Hopefully we'll get more out of these guys than the ones that snatched up Merlyn and Queen."
Both women's gazes darted to him in surprise.
"Oliver and Tommy got kidnapped too?" Laurel asked.
"Yeah. They said a guy in a green hood came in and killed the men that took them. ." the Detective said.
"Anyway, I'll get out of your hair. You think of something else, you let me know. And, uh, it was nice meeting you, Miss Rooke."
Lydia gave the Detective a small smile as he was escorted out of the apartment by his daughter. Oliver hadn't talked about him very often while on the island, but when he did it had always been some variant of a joke regarding his disapproval of Oliver and Laurel's relationship. Meeting him now... Lydia could see undertones of the man Oliver described, but she could also see something more. Quentin Lance was harsh, rough around the edges, but he was also a man fiercely dedicated to his job and family. In that aspect, he wasn't much different from her own father.
"So, are you gonna tell me where you learned that chokehold?" Laurel asked once she came back into the living room.
Lydia smirked.
"Sure, right after you tell me where you learned to fight like that."
"Cop dad. He made me take self-defense classes. That and... well, I had a lot of anger to work through these last five years. Getting into martial arts helped." Laurel explained, her smile faltering slightly.
"What about you?"
"Grew up in the Glades, remember? You learn how to defend yourself at a young age."
It wasn't the truth. It was not even remotely close to the truth. But Lydia didn't feel like this was a good time to reveal that she and Oliver had in fact not been alone on that island. And it would certainly raise a lot of questions if she tried to explain that she had learned that move from a now dead Australian secret service operative. Questions she was not ready to answer.
Luckily, Laurel decided not to press the matter any further and Lydia had no interest in digging further. Besides, the kidnapping already had her mind occupied enough. While she and Laurel had gotten away unscathed, it was worrying that someone had been interested in what she and Oliver might know. Enough to hurt innocents. That, combined with Oliver's testimony announcing the arrival of the archer in green, meant they were now officially on the clock. And Lydia, for the second time that day, found herself feeling slightly annoyed by Oliver Queen.
*
Lydia still wasn't quite sure what Oliver was planning when she found out that the location of what would become their base of operations was an abandoned Queen Consolidated steel foundry. She supposed it being in the Glades might help them reach their targets faster and would be easier to operate out of than the Queen Mansion. However, she wasn't quite sure why he decided to pick a place that was associated, even if only vaguely, with the Queen name. She supposed she would have to wait and see.
As she entered, she found that Oliver had already set up most of their hardware and training equipment. The racks for their arrows, the grindstone, the various containers with explosives and different types of arrowheads were all laid out across various tables. The salmon ladder and the training dummy were pushed up against one of the corners. The two wooden crates they had brought with them from the island took up a more or less central spot, making them easy to access. The only thing remaining was some of their more complex electronics, a task that Lydia was glad he had left to her. Oliver had been sitting at one of the tables looking through a small booklet, when he noticed her arrival.
"Hey, Lyds. Glad to see you didn't get lost on the way."
Normally she would have responded to that with a quip of her own. But after the talk she had with Laurel, after learning why she disliked him so much, Lydia was only able to give him a quick smile in return. Unfortunately, it seemed Oliver had managed to pick up on her discomfort.
"What 's wrong? Did something happen?" he asked.
Lydia let out a sigh, debating whether or not to approach the subject. On the one hand, Oliver's private life wasn't really any of her business, no matter how much time they'd spent together on the island. Especially the things that happened before then. On the other hand, she couldn't help but feel a little miffed that he hadn't thought to mention that he had cheated on his girlfriend with her sister before suggesting Lydia crash with said girlfriend.
"Laurel and I talked. About Sara." she eventually said.
"Oh."
"Why did you never tell me?"
Oliver leaned forward in his chair, his slight playfulness from before replaced with a look of sincerity and guilt. Lydia instantly felt more at ease. That look had always meant that he was serious, that he understood what the situation was.
"I'm sorry I never told you all of it." he began.
"Back then, you were just a little girl, only a couple months older than my sister. It just... it didn't seem right to try and explain that whole mess to you on top of everything else we were dealing with. And then after Hong Kong you left for Gotham, and I suppose I just never thought of it again until now."
Lydia nodded, taking in this information.
"Did you love her? At least, like you loved Laurel?"
Oliver was silent. She could see him slowly pondering the question. Another comforting sign. It meant that he cared enough about her to answer with the truth.
"No, I don't think I did. Not really." he eventually answered.
"At the time, Laurel had just asked me to move in with her. And that... it felt permanent. Like it was a point where I couldn't go back. And it scared me. So I tried to run away from it, and ruined what I had in the process."
Lydia wasn't sure she liked his explanation, but she could tell it was the truth. And she had seen enough to know that the truth was not always what one wanted to hear.
"That was stupid of you." she declared.
Oliver hung his head in what she could only guess was shame.
"Yeah. I was a selfish idiot."
"Oh, you're still an idiot. Just not that selfish anymore." Lydia replied with a smirk.
Her little quip seemed to do its job well enough, eliciting a small chuckle out of Oliver.
"Anyway, what were you looking at before I so rudely interrupted you?"
Oliver turned around and opened the webpage for an online newspaper on one of their computers. It displayed an article on a bald man with a scowl on his face. One that seemed familiar, but she couldn't quite figure out why.
"This is Adam Hunt. He's being put on trial for embezzlement and fraud, but his crimes run a lot deeper. And his name is on the List." he said, holding up the booklet he had been examining earlier.
The List. A small booklet left behind by Oliver's father, the pages filled with names scribbled onto the paper. When she saw it the first time, it confused her. But after Oliver revealed its purpose to her, it changed something. It gave the two of them direction, something they could do with the skills they had been forced to acquire. And with the revelation of Adam Hunt being on the List, it suddenly clicked in Lydia's mind where she had seen him before.
"Wait, I think Laurel was working a case against him. I overheard one of her colleagues say he changed the judge presiding over it."
Oliver nodded.
"It fits his MO. Adam Hunt has been able to bully, bribe or kill anyone that gets in his way. But he hasn't met me yet." he said, standing up and moving towards one of the crates, opening it to take out a bow and a green leather jacket with a green hood stitched onto it.
"Want me to tag along?" Lydia asked.
"No need. For now, it'll just be a warning. I can handle it solo."
He quickly put on his outfit, smeared some grease paint over his eyes to obscure them, strapped on a quiver of arrows and exited the foundry, leaving her alone. Lydia sighed, wandering over towards the crates themselves. She opened the second one, kneeling down to inspect its contents. There was a recurve bow, the turquoise coloring of the grip fading towards a navy blue as it got to the edges. There was her quiver, a custom job made of black leather that she had commissioned in Gotham, with two vertical straps rather than a single diagonal one. Both of those were equipped with sheaths for a set of Chinese ring daggers, not a gift that carried with it good memories, but one she had held onto all the same. Finally, there was her own jacket with her own blue hood stitched onto it. In comparison to Oliver's hood, it fit together more seamlessly and naturally.
Lydia allowed her fingers to roam across the cloth of the hood. A special gift, just for her. The first time she saw it was still engraved in her memory.
*
(5 years ago)
Lydia groaned as she felt someone shaking her. One of the many things she didn't like about being stuck on this island: early mornings.
"Come on Lydia, wake up." a gentle voice requested.
Lydia's brown eyes opened, slowly blinking away the daze of sleep. Her gaze wandered over the torn fuselage of the wrecked cargo plane they had been using as a hideout, before moving further down. She spotted Oliver sitting off to the side, watching her curiously with a nervous smile on his face. And sitting in front of her was a young Chinese woman with jet black hair pulled back into a small ponytail.
"Shado? What 's going on? Is something wrong?" Lydia asked as she sat up.
The woman shook her head.
"No, everything is fine. There 's just... I have a gift for you."
At first Lydia frowned in confusion. A gift? Then she noticed the folded blue cloth on Shado's lap. As the woman handed it to her, Lydia realized that she recognized it. It wasn't just some random piece of navy blue cloth, this was her mother's coat. Or rather used to be. Most of the fabric had been cut away, leaving behind only the shoulders and the hood.
"I know it's probably not really your birthday, but, uhm... consider it my birthday present to you anyway." Shado told her, her hands clasping each other nervously.
Lydia slowly lifted her gaze up towards Shado. She had done this? She had been the one who, after Slade's incessant complaining that the oversized coat slowed her down, had taken it upon herself to modify it? To ensure that even as they were stuck in this forgotten hell on earth, Lydia still got to keep a reminder of the mother she had lost? Her eyes began to water.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Shado.
"Thank you so much. I love it, Shado."
Shado gasped in surprise, caught off-guard by the girl's sudden move, but was quick to return the embrace, her arms circling around the smaller body protectively.
"Can you promise me something, Lydia?" she said, pulling away slightly to be able to look the girl in the eyes.
"Promise me that you will survive. That you will return to your home so that you can fight for it just like your parents did."
Lydia nodded without hesitation.
"I promise. I won't let you down." she declared.
Shado smiled, brushing a strand of blonde hair away from the girl's face.
"I know you won't."
*
(Present)
The blue hood had become much more than a memento of her mother. It was now also a way to remember her first teacher. The List gave her direction, but her promise to Shado gave her purpose.
"I won't let you down." she whispered, running her fingers through the fabric one more time before closing the crate again.
She might not be going out into the field tonight, but she still had work to do. And if she and Oliver wanted to really start their crusade off strong, she could not afford to be sloppy.
*
There weren't many things that scared Lydia at this point. But being here in this courtroom now did put her slightly on edge. Not really because of the proceedings taking place, but mostly due to the amount of people who had their eyes on her. Due to his preexisting popularity, the press had focused on Oliver for the most part, only really bothering Lydia briefly when they had arrived at Starling International Airport. However, the paparazzi seemed to suddenly regain an interest in her once they found out she would be getting legally resurrected. Though judging by the few questions she caught while being ushered into the courthouse, what they were really interested in was what she could tell him about Oliver.
"The court will now hear the testimony of Lydia Rooke." the judge announced.
Lydia glanced to her side at Laurel, who had volunteered to help her with the legal proceedings practically as soon as the subject came up. The lawyer gave her a smile and an encouraging nod. Lydia took a deep breath and stood up.
"I-I was on a plane with my parents. We were traveling to Japan... for my birthday." she began.
"The plane was caught in a storm. The turbulence must have messed with the plane's systems, and caused it to crash on the island. I was the only survivor. A few days later I found Oliver Queen. He took care of me, helped me find shelter and food. If it wasn't for him, I... I don't think I would have survived."
With her testimony finished, Lydia sat back down. Laurel gave her another smile and a quick grip of her shoulder before standing up herself.
"Your honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Lydia Rooke's disappearance. Unfortunately, that will not be the case for Marcus and Filipa Rooke." she announced.
"I, Dinah Laurel Lance, also volunteer to act as Lydia's legal guardian until she comes of age."
"Motion is approved. And with that, this court is adjourned." the judge declared, pounding the gavel to announce the ending of the court session.
Lydia breathed a sigh of relief. Finally this whole thing was over and she could go back to being out of the spotlight. She allowed Laurel to guide her out of the courtroom and towards the exterior of the courthouse, the older woman taking care to shield her from the hordes of reporters.
"Well, glad that's been dealt with." Laurel said once they had finally made it to her car.
"Now we just need to get all the stuff sorted with your documents so that we can get you stuff like a bus pass. And enroll you into school."
Lydia turned to Laurel in surprise.
"School?"
Laurel gave her a pointed look.
"Oh yes. If you think being stranded on an island for five years means you get to skip high school then you are very wrong, young lady."
Lydia huffed as she turned back to the road. There were many things she needed to worry about. Finishing her education was not very high on that list.
*
Lydia whistled quietly to herself as she waited on the rooftop, dressed in her jacket and hood, dark blue paint obscuring her eyes. By her estimates, Adam Hunt was dangerously close to his deadline. And yet, there had been no sign of movement in the bank account Oliver had directed him to. Thankfully, Oliver's friend Tommy Merlyn, had chosen to host his welcome back party right across from Hunt's building. Which meant there would be a very swift retaliation if their target refused to comply. Finally, she heard footsteps approaching.
"Pushing it a bit with the tardiness." she commented, turning around to see Oliver walking up to her dressed in his own equipment.
"Ran into a few complications." he replied.
"Right, your new shadow." she said, remembering the dark-skinned man that had been following Oliver around.
"John Diggle, correct?"
Oliver nodded in confirmation before changing the subject.
"Has Adam Hunt done what I asked?"
"Nope." Lydia answered, taking a glance down at her phone.
"And his time just ran out."
"Then let's go pay him a visit."
The two archers walked up to the edge of the roof and aimed their bows. They both fired cable arrows to create a pair of zip-lines before moving across the street, crashing through the windows a few floors below their target. From there, the two made their way to the elevator up to Hunt's penthouse. As they rode the elevator, Lydia's mind flashed back to earlier that day.
"Laurel wants to me to go to school."
Oliver turned his head towards her.
"What?"
"Yeah. She's worried about my education I guess."
There were a few moments of silence.
"Do you wanna go to school?" Oliver asked.
"Not really, no." Lydia decided after a bit of thinking.
"It would just be too weird to go back now, with all the other kids probably gossiping about me and stuff. Besides, we kinda have bigger issues."
"She's got a point though."
This time it was Lydia who turned to look at Oliver.
"Ollie..."
"Lydia, despite how much she taught you, Shado does not make up for four years of high school and one year of middle school." he insisted.
"I'll talk with Laurel. Maybe we can arrange for homeschooling or something like that."
Lydia wanted to protest, to argue further how they had so much more to worry about than her education. But she could also tell that there was probably nothing she could say that would convince Oliver to reconsider. Besides, she wouldn't have had much time to make her case, seeing as they were nearing the floor of Adam Hunt's penthouse.
The two archers moved to the sides of the elevator for cover, anticipating resistance. As they expected, as soon as the doors opened a volley of bullets was fired into the elevator. Once the gunfire stopped the two of them wasted no time jumping into action, shooting down two of the gunmen further away before turning their sights on the ones right outside the elevator. Lydia lunged forward, trapping one in a triangle choke with her legs to bring him down before knocking him out with an elbow strike. She then quickly dashed behind some nearby furniture for cover just as the remaining thugs unleashed another hail of gunfire. In response, Lydia quickly nocked a flashbang arrow and fired it at their feet before running back out of cover and towards Hunt's office while Oliver shot down the disoriented goons. She crashed through the glass door and fired at Hunt, her arrow landing on the wall behind him.
"You missed." he told her.
Lydia smirked.
"No I didn't."
She had no time to enjoy the look of fear on Hunt's face though, as it seemed the SCPD personnel that had been placed on watch downstairs had finally realized there had been a break in.
"SCPD, put your hands up!"
Oliver immediately ran up, grabbing Lydia's arm and pulling her towards the window. Once again they shot down two cable arrows to make their getaway back across the street.
"Did you get it?" Oliver asked once they were on the other side.
"Do you even have to ask?" Lydia said, holding up her phone to show the ongoing transfer of funds from Adam Hunt's account to an anonymous one.
All thanks to the one arrow he thought had missed.
"You should go back downstairs before the police come knocking." she told him.
"And maybe try not to give Detective Lance such a hard time. He's a good man, and he's just trying to do his job."
Oliver smirked.
"Unless he's changed significantly in the last five years, he's gonna be the one giving me a hard time."
Lydia shook her head with an amused smile. Part of her really wanted to stay and get a front row seat to Oliver driving Detective Lance insane. But she was also keenly aware that she was racing against the clock to get to the apartment before Laurel. Which meant she unfortunately couldn't stay to watch this trainwreck. But she would be looking forward to hearing all about it.
*
Quentin was still trying to process everything that had happened the previous night. When Queen had mentioned the man in the green hood, he assumed it was just that rich brat's idea of a joke, especially when it had been discredited by his daughter and her new... roommate? Protegee? Whatever. But then Adam Hunt had given a statement describing the same man. And then last night he had seen him. And a second one.
There was another. Smaller, leaner, a woman if Quentin had to bet on it. Dressed in a similar getup but in blue. One who, according to what he had seen, was working together with the man in green. Which meant that his city now apparently had two people willing to take the law into their own hands, not caring who they hurt.
"Hey, the reports are back." his partner, Lucas Hilton, announced, walking up and dropping a folder on Quentin's desk.
Quentin immediately picked it up and began skimming through it.
"Anything that could point us to a suspect?"
"No. But there was something strange. Apparently, none of the guys shot with blue arrows were in critical condition. Incapacitated, some of them might never fully heal. But there were no kill shots." Hilton said.
"Could be just a coincidence, or maybe the woman isn't as good..."
"No." Quentin cut him off.
"These guys, they're no amateurs, neither of them. If Hunt's men aren't dead, it's because she deliberately chose not to kill them."
"So what? The woman is squeamish about death?"
In Quentin's mind there were a lot of possible reasons the woman in blue might not be as willing to kill as her partner. Maybe she had some underlying trauma, or perhaps she was even more disillusioned and thought upholding some sort of code of conduct made her better. Or maybe she just had a shred of decency left and could recognize that taking a person's life was wrong, no matter who that life belonged to.
Regardless, he couldn't ignore the facts in front of him. Moral code or not, these two were criminals, plain and simple. And as such, they were subject to the law just like any other citizen of Starling City.
"Doesn't matter. These vigilantes are dangerous. And we're gonna bring them down."